Private sector salaries have risen twice as fast as those in the public sector in ten years, according to INSEE

The remuneration of employees in the private sector increased more than twice as quickly as that of civil servants between 2011 and 2021, according to figures published Wednesday October 25 by INSEE. These figures are published while the salaries of civil servants were frozen between 2010 and 2022, with the exception of an increase of 1.2% in 2016-2017. Two general increases have since been granted to public employees by the government, up to 3.5% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023.

In private, “between 2011 and 2021, full-time equivalent net salary increased on average by 4.9% in constant euros”, an indicator that measures compensation adjusted for inflation. This corresponds to an increase in wages “by 0.4% on average per year”, specifies the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies on its site.

Over the same period, “the average net salary in full-time equivalent increased by 2.1% in constant euros in the civil service (i.e. +0.2% on average each year)”, according to INSEE. After experiencing a “slight decline” in constant euros in the 2010s, the remuneration of public officials has however “strongly bounced” since 2020, in particular thanks to the upgrading measures taken in hospitals following the Covid-19 pandemic.